Posts Tagged ‘Staff Picks’

Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness: A Reader and Roadmap of Bipolar Worlds, was self-published by the Icarus Project in March 2004. The book is currently in its 6th printing and is full of firsthand encounters with bi-polar disorder. I like the fact that it’s not a normal sized zine, but more like a larger magazine.

First off, I had no clue Sascha Scatter was one of the co- founders of Choking Victim, although I have never listened to them, I think it’s a good idea that someone “known” to younger people would take the time to educate people on this serious disorder. The personal stories from people and families dealing with bipolar disorder are very insightful and you really get an understanding of how this all works. I mean, can you imagine one minute having the best ideas in the world and the creative juices flowing through your veins, thinking you’re superman with the most self confidence in the world, and the next hour crying for no apparent reason feeling like the biggest failure, completely hopeless?

These stories are heartbreaking and honest and it took a lot of guts for the people involved in this project to open up with their feelings. It’s a huge road map guiding you along the trails of different people showing you the route they took and how they are dealing with it and trying to live their lives the best they can.

I prefer to read words accompanied by pictures and so I naturally gravitate toward the comic zines in the Zine Collection. Of all the comic zines I have read, I recommend that you check out You Ain’t No Dancer Vol. 3. This solid anthology has bunches of comics from 30 creators. As in past volumes of YAND, there’s more than a few creepy comics, funny comics and weird comics to wet your appetite and (fortunately) there are no super-hero comics. Well, there may be one super-villain comic, but I’ll let you figure out which one that is. Overall, the artwork and writing are great but a few stand out. Jason Turner’s romantic “The Day of the Builders” is one of the best in this anthology. You can also see his work in the True Love series right here in our own Zine Collection. Another bright spot is “War of the Acorns” by Lars Brown. I love the image of the woman with the acorn in her teeth. That image alone makes this book worth checking out.